CENTRAL NEW YORK – A whole lot is on the line for the Bishop Ludden girls basketball team as it goes into the Section III Class AA playoffs.
Promoted after rolling to the sectional Class A title a year ago, the Gaelic Knights wanted to prove that it could beat the big schools, too, and give the school’s all-time leading scorer, Amarah Streiff, a memorable send-off.
Doing it would require Ludden, who gained the no. 6 seed, to upend no. 3 seed Liverpool Wednesday night in the quarterfinals after dropping two regular-season meetings to the Warriors.
These same expectations surfaced in Class C, where Jordan-Elbridge held the no. 3 seed and, in last Friday’s opening round, faced no. 14 seed Waterville.
By every standard, the Eagles, who had won 12 of its last 13 games, should have moved forward, but instead it was stunned 42-40 by an Indians side sporting a more modest 10-10 record.
J-E had used a 10-game win streak to sprint into championship contention before surrendering a fourth-quarter lead to Weedsport on Feb. 7.
Two wins followed, though, as the Eagles routed Pulaski and then took out Fabius-Pompey 72-25 last Monday, seeing all nine players on the roster get at least one field goal.
Abbie Ahern, with 20 points, led the way, though Erin LaVancha was close behind, getting 17 points, and Ava Hildebrant earned 15 points.
Nothing about this suggested a playoff letdown – but J-E, right from the opening tip, found it difficult to play at its preferred tempo against a Waterville side that slowed things down.
All of this led to the Eagles trailing 23-13 at halftime, and the deficit grew before a furious fourth-quarter rally led by Hildebrant, who got most of her 20 points from four 3-pointers, and Ahern, who got 12 points.
But LaVancha was held to four points, and Waterville’s Natalee Collins dazzled with a triple-double of 17 points, 12 rebounds and 11 blocks as Valorie Ford added 16 points, seven rebounds and four steals.
West Genesee finished a 4-16 regular season with a 52-43 defeat to Henninger last Monday that featured a 20-9 third-quarter spurt which put the Wildcats within one, 35-34.
But the Black Knights got clear in the late stages, eventually winning as Sanai Lee finished with 17 points and Kapriece Sigler added 15 points.
Still gaining the no. 10 seed in Class AA, WG visisted no. 7 seed Utica Proctor in the opening round and, once there, saw its season end with a 47-37 defeat to the Raiders.
Neither team scored much until the second quarter, when Proctor inched into a small lead. Still, WG kept it close, only trailing 32-31 before getting held to six points in the final period, allowing the Raiders to draw clear and earn a quarterfinal date with Rome Free Academy.
